Five business leaders whose companies have a presence in China look into the crystal ball and predict what 2017 has in store for Chinese business.

China business predictions: the questions

âCross-border e-commerce will play a growing role in China's economic growthâ Elaine Chang, vice-president of Amazon and president of Amazon China

A1:We are optimistic about Chinaâs economic prospects in 2017 and believe cross-border e-commerce will play a growing role in the countryâs economic growth.

The import of international brands and products through cross-border online shopping greatly supports the Chinese governmentâs supply-side structural reform, which is injecting new power and energy into the countryâs economy.

On the other hand, manufacturers based in China are upgrading and trying to grow their businesses and build their brands globally through cross-border e-commerce. All these are great opportunities, and what we need is to focus on customersâ demands and drive local innovations to provide better support.

A2: Our mission in China is to innovate on behalf of Chinese customersâ needs. We launched Amazon Global Store, the first localised Global Store in Amazon worldwide; Amazon Prime China, the first membership programme providing unlimited and free cross-border delivery; and white Kindle, initiated by Amazon China for Chinese customers first then rolled out throughout the world. We hope our spirit of innovation and the way it helps local customers will help elevate the innovation environment in China.

Additionally, Amazon Global Selling recently launched a number of initiatives in China, including: a China-based recruitment team designed to bring high-quality China-based sellers and selection to the growing Amazon Business marketplace in the US; a project called Manufacture Plus aimed at providing specific support to Chinaâs manufacturers to explore the online channel to export to the world and build their brands globally.

A3: Amazon has a long-term commitment in China and will continue to invest to innovate for Chinese customers. So long as we serve our customers right, everything else will follow naturally.

A4: Currency exchange rate fluctuations are normal. Given that we are a global business, fluctuation normalises if we consider our global scale.

A5: We have invested to build a comprehensive presence in China, including cross-border e-commerce, Amazon reading, including books, Kindle and digital content, Amazon Logistics+, and Amazon Web Services. Aligned with the four strategic business focuses, we will keep innovating in response to the demands of local customers, sellers, developers and enterprises.

âA major opportunity is Chinaâs âcomprehensive healthâ conceptâ Celina Chew, president of Bayer Group Greater China

A1: China has set 2020 as the target to realise the centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society. This involves doubling both its 2010 GDP and the 2010 per capita income of urban and rural residents.

In order to do this, China must maintain a steady medium-to-high rate of economic growth from now until 2020, while prioritising better quality and more sustainable growth. I expect that the Chinese government will work to ensure that the countryâs economic growth in 2017 contributes to this centenary goal. In this regard, a major opportunity is Chinaâs âcomprehensive healthâ concept as well as the âhealthy China 2030â blueprint, which covers areas such as public health services, environmental management, the medical industry and food and drug safety.

This holistic approach provides many opportunities in a range of industries to contribute to this strategic objective. One major challenge would be the ability for the necessary reforms to be implemented at a speed and scope to support such an objective.

A2: The main themes of Chinaâs 13th Five-Year Plan are very much in line with Bayerâs philosophy and mission, and our strategy for China. Bayerâs development plan in China, as well as globally, is firmly centred in innovation.

Innovation has been a key contributor to Bayerâs success over 150 years and it will continue to drive the companyâs future growth. We are also constantly upgrading our manufacturing capabilities. For example, we recently inaugurated the 100-million-euro expansion of our pharmaceutical production site in Beijing.

This expansion and investment shows Bayerâs continuous commitment to ensure a reliable supply of high-quality products to meet the growing demand of Chinese patients for the medicines they need. Digitalisation is also another important trend that Bayer is embracing in order to ensure that we are keeping up with Chinaâs dynamic development.

A3: Bayerâs global results showed strong earnings growth for the first three quarters of 2016, with an excellent performance from our pharmaceuticals business and good contributions from our consumer health and crop science businesses.

Our business in China has contributed strongly to our global results, and Greater China is still the third-largest market for Bayer. We are well positioned to ensure that Greater China will continue to have a positive input for Bayer Group results in 2017.

A4: The stronger US dollar will have limited impact on Bayerâs business in China in 2017 as most of our foreign exchange-related operations are denominated in euro. We will continue to monitor the situation and prepare accordingly.

A5: China is a key market for Bayer and a driving force for our sustainable growth worldwide. China is also a major focus of our global strategy and we are very committed to China and to the Chinese patients, customers and consumers. Bayer has invested strongly and consistently in China over many years, and we will continue to invest in the China market in accordance with our development and needs of the Chinese people.

âWe believe the country will continue to head in a healthy direction in 2017â Mark Costa, chairman and chief executive officer, Eastman Chemical Company

A1: Although the country is shifting from a high-growth economy to a moderate-growth one, China is and will continue to be one of the worldâs most important growth engines. We believe the country will continue to head in a healthy direction in 2017.

Some of the positive signs include strong income growth for consumers and consumption and a drive for a greener China such as water and air quality improvements. However, sometimes it is challenging for China to keep its growth in an appropriate range while solving many development problems as part of its structural reform efforts.

A2: The main themes of innovation, manufacturing upgrades and green growth for Chinaâs 13th Five-Year Plan match what we at Eastman are striving for and are also our key growth drivers. We are focusing our growth efforts on key global market trends including health and wellness, natural resource efficiency, emerging middle class and feeding a growing population.

We will continue to drive local innovations to meet local business needs, expand our investments in China and help the country to achieve sustainable development through our innovative products and solutions and corporate responsibility efforts.

A3: For Eastman globally, we are accelerating our journey towards a specialty chemical company. We enter 2017 well positioned to benefit from our strong portfolio of specialty businesses that leverage world-class technology platforms to deliver solid growth in attractive end markets and accelerated earnings growth from high value and innovative specialty products.

China is in an important phase of its development with an improved legal and social system to benefit peopleâs living standards. We believe we will achieve good business development in China in 2017 with local application businesses.

A4: The impact on Eastman of a stronger US dollar and a more flexible renminbi exchange rate is limited if the change in the exchange rate is not very significant. While a weaker renminbi provides some benefits to local players, customers choose us for our consistent record of delivering innovative products and solutions while maintaining a commitment to safety and sustainability.

A5: China will continue to be a key market for Eastman. Chinese labour costs may be rising fast, but so is Chinese productivity. China is still the worldâs largest exporting nation and its talent pool is large and flexible. The countryâs supply chain is sophisticated and flexible. China is a large market with a middle class larger than both those of the US and the European Union, and Chinaâs consumer market is very attractive for companies like Eastman. With Chinaâs focus on green GDP and sustainability, we are seeing it as an attractive place to do business and we are committed to expanding our investment in it.

âChina's stable economic growth will remain a major driving forceâ Ondrej Frydrych, chief executive officer of Home Credit Group in China

A1: We are quite optimistic about Chinaâs economic prospect and believe the countryâs stable economic growth will remain a major driving force of the worldâs economic growth momentum. China has made remarkable progress in marketising interest rates, internationalising the renminbi and urbanisation, and is now putting great effort into deepening its economic transformation from investment-driven to a consumption-driven one.

A2: Chinaâs 13th Five-Year Plan stresses a deep integration of technology and the economy, and in the context of mass entrepreneurship and innovation many new industries and business models have been fostered, with many coming from the finance industry.

One important innovation coming from Home Creditâs business model is that we have developed into a highly efficient business that captures lending relationships through our extensive multichannel distribution network, which consists of more than 115,000 point-of-sales outlets co-operated with leading electronics retailers, supermarkets and cell phone chains in China.

A3: Thanks to the Chinese governmentâs efforts to further open up the countryâs consumer finance market, Home Credit achieved high-speed growth in China in 2016, and expected to have more than 60,000 employees and 125,000 points-of-sale outlets across the country by the end of the year. We expect to stably extend our network of points-of-sale outlet and have more than 20 million active clients by the end of 2017.

A4: We see the optimistic side of this situation. The internationalisation of the renminbi is conducive to reducing the exchange rate risk and promoting the development of Chinaâs international trade and investment, which will provide a larger arena in which Chinese companies can play greater roles and seek to go global. As a long-term partner of many Chinese companies, Home Credit is more than willing to strengthen our collaboration with them.

A5: Absolutely yes. Home Credit will continue our commitment to the Chinese market by further supporting the countryâs efforts to drive financial inclusion and boost consumption.

We plan to invest up to 6 billion yuan (Â£703 million) in China in the next two years combined to support the sustainable and solid development of our business. In October we issued more than 1.3 billion yuan of asset-backed securities in China for the purpose of diversifying our financing channels with lower costs to provide more inclusive consumer finance services to customers.

âNuclear energy is a cornerstone of Chinaâs energy expansion plansâ Gavin Liu, Westinghouse Electric Company, president, Asia region

A1: I have every expectation that China will continue its trajectory of strong economic and strategic growth in 2017 and beyond.

Nuclear energy is a cornerstone of Chinaâs energy expansion plans because of its attributes related to safety and carbon-free emissions benefits, and it fosters energy independence, energy security and industrial innovation. So this creates market participation opportunities for energy companies such as Westinghouse, and creates a platform for joint technology partnerships and innovation.

With rapid development in energy comes the challenge of synchronising industrial and supply-chain capacities. One approach is to leverage global supply chains to meet the needs of peak demand during expansion. That way the domestic industry can be properly scaled to match the longer-term domestic and export demand.

A2: We are fortunate that Westinghouseâs business capabilities and interests closely match Chinaâs national energy strategies and the main theme. Our business strategy for China is framed around co-operation and collaboration. By leveraging its global expertise, Westinghouse aims to help its customers in China absorb the AP1000 plant technology and achieve high levels of success in deployment, startup and operations.

A3: The coming year is going to be exciting and noteworthy for Westinghouse. We are collaborating with our Chinese strategic partners to start up Sanmen Unit 1, the worldâs first AP1000 nuclear power plant, and connect it to the electricity grid.

The startup of Haiyang Unit 1 will follow soon thereafter. The completion of these projects is an important milestone and validates Chinaâs decision to use AP1000 technology for domestic expansion.

We are also building upon the services we already provide in China by growing local talent and equipment suppliers to provide an exceptional level of service to help ensure plants are operating at the highest level of safety and efficiency. On a broader scale, Westinghouse looks to our Asia business to be the growth engine for the future.

A4: Strengthening our local capability and localising more of our work in China is one of the top priorities for Westinghouse in 2017.

This strategic approach will help mitigate the monetary risk and transfer more high value-added business activities from other parts of the world to China. It also centres more of Westinghouseâs future supply chain in the market that will have the strongest future nuclear industry, creating benefit for China and Westinghouse.

A5: Westinghouse is committed to helping China utilities provide clean, reliable and safe electricity. We maintain a long-term view and strategy, with the goal of being in this market for a long time. Westinghouse sees many business opportunities in this market and intends to continue investing in new business opportunities
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